Celery1989

http://www1.skysport...d-Lyon-lifeline Lyon have hinted they are ready to offer Chelsea outcast Florent Malouda a way out of Stamford Bridge. Malouda has been deemed surplus to requirements in Roberto Di Matteo's plans and has been left out of Chelsea's Champions League squad. The France international also claims he has been forced to train with the club's kids after slipping down the pecking order in the Chelsea first team. Malouda left Lyon for Chelsea in 2007 and the French club's president, Jean-Michel Aulas, claims the door is open for Malouda to return to Stade Gerland. "Our door is always open to former players," said Aulas. "Malouda has been in contact with our coaching team very recently. Not sure what this means given that the transfer window is shut. Would we still be able to loan Malouda out to Lyon?

Any idea what game this was from?

I'd like to see Ashley stay for one for more year, but after that he can leave in my opinion. He's still the best left-back in Europe but I believe that, by the end of next season, Bertrand will be ready to take over his position.

Today you can only get 1 ticket as you only have 1 membership. On Monday you can get 2 more. Unfortunately that's all you will be able to buy unless the last remaining tickets reach general sale, which actually is quite possible seeing how empty the ground was for the group stages last year. If you don't want to risk waiting til then, you'll need to cover the remaining 2 tickets through someone else's membership. Unfortunately you won't be able to set up another membership in time.

Ranieri did a lot of good work for the club and I will always be very grateful to him for the part he played in the rise of CFC. However, he had clearly taken the club as far as he could and was not the man to lead us in the CL and in the Premiership title race; to this day I still scratch my head at his illogical 'tinkering', displayed so vividly in the Monaco horror show. I can't believe we didn't win the Champions League that season. Nevertheless, I'm still fond of the Tinkerman and was sad to see him leave, even though it was for the best.

Exactly!! Please Mr. Moderator END THIS THREAD!

FYI: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/battersea-power-stations-iconic-towers-to-be-knocked-down-and-replaced-with-replicas-in-8bn-regeneration-8106298.html Sounds like any other modern appartment block.

Great news. Ryan has a very bright future IMO. Will track his progress this season very closely.

Romulo (Spartak Moscow).

Given how much energy we all wasted following the Hulk saga all summer, I think its time this thread were shut down and locked away for good.

What a stupid transfer this is. Why did we loan out Essien!? We only have Lampard, Mikel and Romeu for the deep midfield spots (All of whom have their own issues), Ramires doesn't fit in those positions which is why he's on the wing. I hope Oscar can be converted into a "deep lying playmaker" otherwise the cupboard looks to be quite bare for me in those positions. However this does also the clear the decks for maybe another CM to come in in January which we needed anyway.

Meireles really can't be allowed to leave at this moment in time. Not only is he a useful player in his own right but its not as if we have a surplus of CM's. Maybe in January when we can find a replacement.

Literally every team that has ever won the Champions League has rode their luck at times. It's an intrinsic part of knockout football. Whilst the haters say that luck was the main factor in us winning it last year, by that same token, luck was also the main reason we hadn't won it beforehand.

Over the years I've learnt to never rule out anything in football, but this seems pretty far-fetched to me. I'd feel sick to my stomach as well if it did happen.

That's actually quite a good idea.

I can't see Torres co-existing with another big name forward. Torres would see Falcao's arrival as a means of ousting him from the starting lineup (which, quite frankly, is exactly what it would be). Therefore I think the most logical thing would be for Torres to go home as a makeweight in the deal.

I don't know about January, but by thist time next year I'd like to have Falcao and Fellaini on our books.

Falcao is the best striker in the planet at the moment. His strike rate is simply phenomenal, even better than RVP's I think. If there is even the smallest chance that we could sign him we should do everything in our power to make it happen. He's the complete forward and would be the ideal lone striker for us. I could genuinely see a cash + Torres deal materialise which would be ideal for all parties involved. I'm willing to give Fernando this season to prove me wrong but I still have my doubts. Falcao is simply too good to pass up IMHO.

I'd go so far as to say that Malouda was the "X Factor" that pushed us over the edge in the Double winning season. With Lamps and Drogs' goals alone we wouldn't have beaten United to the title. Sadly he's been dire the last year or so and doesn't seem to care. Such a waste of space in our squad right now.

I'm quite frankly disgusted about how our players quite clearly haven't given a f*ck about this from the very beginning. How often do you get the chance to win the Super Cup? AND CECH STOP F*CKING PUNTING IT LONG DROGBA DOESN"T PLAY FOR US ANY MORE!!!

Really do not want this transfer to go through. If Sturridge goes then I want Schurrle not Remy. Just don't rate this guy at all from what I have seen.

I thought Drogba was a cumbersome oaf in his first 2 seasons. I couldn't even decipher whether he was left or right-footed. But even then I acknowledged how essential he was to the team as the forwardmost target and at defending set pieces etc. I've always felt that what Frank may, by his own admission, lack in natural talent and flair, he makes up for through discipline and resilience. The countless hours that he's spent of the training pitch have clearly paid dividends, something I admire about him in an age where I get the impression that most players just turn up and f*ck off as they please. Surely one of the most deadly goalscoring midfielders that football has seen? I can't think of any other CM's with stats to the same level as Frank. When we signed Cole I was actually quite annoyed about the deal. Not only the acrimony of it, but the fact that Gallas went to Arsenal, who IMO had been instrumental to us winning the title back-to-back. I've not seen many players play all 3 positions in defense with such authority as him. All in all, I think we know who got the better end of that deal - Remember when Gallas was Arsenal captain and totally lost it in that infamous Birmingham game? That game pretty much begun a culture of crumbling which has blighted them ever since! I was a massive Makelele fan and still wish we had him over any other player except for Drogba. Best pure, defensive/holding midfielder that the Premier League has seen. I still don't think Ballack was as good as advertised - he played a deeper role for us than at Bayern Munich, and granted performed that well. But, although he did have some excellent games for us (one at home to ManU springs to mind) I still feel to this day that we never saw the same dominant, box-to-box centre mid who was at the heart of the Bayern team. As for Sheva, it dawned on me rather quickly that he was going to flop. As soon as he signed for us it seemed as if his sharpness and pace stayed behind in Milan.

I am right in thinking we can draw Man City? We were in the same group as Liverpool a few years ago I think.

Big credit to the board. Our squad has finally received the sufficient influx of young talent that was sorely needed for a few years. I have no qualms with the big fees that were paid for Hazard and Oscar because of their talent. I'm impressed with the deals for Marin, Moses and Azpilicueta which were all very shrewdly agreed - A few years back we would probably have caved in and paid £15 million or so for each of these players. So yeah, Thanks Roman and co.! I think we simply need 1 more CM and striker and then our squad is set for the future. What's great is that we may already have those players out on loan in Lukaku and McEachran.

I've criticised him at length but credit where it's due - Mikel was excellent on Saturday!